Johnson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

741 So. 2d 159, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1874, 1999 WL 395956
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 16, 1999
DocketNo. 31,992-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 741 So. 2d 159 (Johnson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 741 So. 2d 159, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1874, 1999 WL 395956 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

I,WILLIAMS, Judge.

In this personal injury action arising from two automobile accidents, the plaintiff, Jewel Johnson, appeals the trial court’s judgment allocating 90% of the fault in causing the accident to a phantom driver, and 10% of the fault to one of the defendants, Marcel St. Marie. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On December 15, 1996, on a rainy evening, Marcel St. Marie was traveling west on Milhaven Road in Monroe, Louisiana, when an unknown driver abruptly changed lanes directly in front of St. Marie and then suddenly applied the brakes, causing St. Marie to run into the rear of the vehicle. When St. Marie stepped from his car to assess the damage to his vehicle, the unknown driver left the scene. As a result of the impact, the left side of St. Marie’s vehicle was damaged and he was unable to start the engine. The inoperable vehicle was sitting at almost a 45-degree angle across the westbound left lane of the four-lane road.

Following the accident, neither the ear’s headlights nor its emergency hazard lights were illuminated. Another driver and his wife, Ann and Barry Webb, who were traveling in the same direction, stopped and offered to call the police. St. Marie then crossed the highway and stood on the shoulder of the road for several minutes before returning to his automobile. He sat in the passenger seat and attempted to activate the hazard lights, but they would not work. While St. Marie was still sitting in the passenger seat, approximately five minutes after the first accident, his vehicle was struck from behind by Jewel Johnson’s automobile. This second accident caused Johnson’s personal injuries and property damage.

Subsequently, the plaintiff, Johnson, filed an amended petition for damages against the defendants, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”), the insurer of the vehicle, and Marcel St. Marie. At the time of the accident, St. Marie was driving a vehicle owned by Rebecca Cox, who had | ^permitted his use of her automobile!

At trial, State Police Trooper John Peters testified that he responded to the call regarding the accidents, which had occurred between approximately 5:45 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. The trooper stated that the first accident caused damage to the left side of St. Marie’s vehicle, which was sitting at an angle pointed toward the right shoulder of the road. The trooper testi[161]*161fied that at the time of the accidents, the conditions were rainy and dark, and that there were not any street lights in that area of the highway.

According to Trooper Peters, the plaintiff stated that she did not see St. Marie’s vehicle until just before impact and that she was unable to stop because of the wet pavement. The accident caused “moderate damage” to the front of her vehicle and the rear of the other. The trooper testified that he and other police officers pushed the automobiles to the shoulder of the road.

St. Marie testified that the first accident occurred when a sports utility vehicle suddenly turned into the lane in front of him and slammed on its brakes. After the accident, the phantom vehicle drove away from the scene. St. Marie stated that approximately five minutes passed between the accidents and that during this time, he stood on the shoulder of the road parallel to his automobile trying to alert other drivers about the disabled vehicle. St. Marie acknowledged that he had not tried to push the car over to the shoulder of the road or to stop any of the several vehicles which passed. When the Webbs stopped, St. Marie said he did not ask them to help push his automobile to the shoulder of the road, or to park behind his vehicle with their hazard lights flashing in order to alert other traffic.

St. Marie testified that he was unable to start his vehicle’s engine because he could not turn the key. He stated that the steering wheel was stuck and that neither the headlights nor the hazard lights were on at the time of the second accident. However, his headlights had been working prior to the first accident and |3he had not turned them off. St. Marie acknowledged that following the first accident, he had not tried to activate his hazard lights before getting out of the car. He testified that after standing on the shoulder of the road for a few minutes, he returned to his vehicle, entered the passenger side and attempted to activate the hazard lights, but they were inoperable. A short time after this attempt, the second accident occurred. St. Marie stated that he watched his car being hooked onto the tow truck and that the vehicle’s lights were not activated.

The plaintiff testified that she did not see the St. Marie automobile until she was very close and was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision. Plaintiff said that before the accident, she did not see any lights on the disabled vehicle and did not notice St. Marie standing on the shoulder of the road. However, she stated that when St. Marie’s vehicle was hooked to the tow truck, she observed its driver turn on the automobile’s headlights.

Margie Lewis was a passenger in the plaintiffs automobile when the accident occurred. Thelma Johnson is plaintiffs daughter, who went to the scene to take her mother home. Both Lewis and Johnson testified that they saw the tow truck driver turn on the lights of St. Marie’s vehicle as it was prepared for towing.

Ann and Barry Webb testified that on the night of the accident, they noticed a sport utility vehicle speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. Ann Webb stated that she did not have any difficulty seeing the disabled vehicle from a distance of approximately five car lengths. Barry Webb testified that he noticed the damaged vehicle when another driver in front of him changed lanes. Barry Webb stated that he did not offer to push the disabled vehicle off the road or suggest that it be done.

After the trial, the district court issued its written reasons for judgment, finding that the phantom driver was 90% at fault in causing the second accident and that St. Marie was ten percent at fault. The court assessed fault to St. Marie after determining that the lights of his vehicle were inoperative following the first Raccident and that he could have placed himself in a better position from which to alert other motorists of the hazard. The district court’s judgment awarded plaintiff the [162]*162amount of $1,049, which is ten percent of the total damage award of $10,490. The plaintiff appeals the judgment.

DISCUSSION

In one of her assignments of error, the plaintiff contends the trial court was clearly wrong in finding that the lights on St. Marie’s vehicle were inoperative after the first accident. Plaintiff argues that the witness testimony does not support the trial court’s conclusion.

A court of appeal may not set aside a trial court’s finding of fact in the absence of manifest error or unless it is clearly wrong. Reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review, even though the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. To reverse a fact finder’s determination, the appellate court must conclude that a reasonable factual basis for the finding of the trial court does not exist in the record. Stobart v. State Dept. of Transp. & Development, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993). When findings are based on evaluations of witness credibility, the manifest error/clearly wrong standard demands great deference to the trial court. Powell v. Brookshire’s Grocery Co., Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
741 So. 2d 159, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1874, 1999 WL 395956, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-lactapp-1999.